Original Post
Hello, I''m currently involved in designing/constructing objects for the All American Girl Pagent at my highschool and I was wondering whether to use COLD-CATHODE FLUORESCENT lamps or not. My application will involve them being put into a box about 4x4x5ft made out of cardboard.
My questions are:
(1) Will CCFLs have enough output to illuminate the holes cut into the box? I came upon some websites that offer them and one of them had their output listed as: 15000cd/m². Is that good? Oh yea, the box will be shown on stage under light.
(2) Is it possible to fade CCFLs with their inverters by Pulse Width Modulation through the 12VDC input without harm(or much harm)?
(3) I plan to enclose the CCFLs with their inverters in a closed box with two fans, one output and one input on the back of the box. Is this enough to avoid a heat problem?
(4) This also goes with number 1, but what is the average lumens of a CCFL at say 12inches?
(5) Do you think it would be wise to just wire up a small computer power supply, of course leaving it on the outside, and feeding in the molex connectors to the inverters or shall I have to construct my own power supply?
(6) Can I use two 6v lanteran(sp) batteries for the inverters if the powersupply idea does not work?
Thanks for reading this if you have gotten this far :D
Also, this is due about 2 weeks from now so that is why I''m currently searching around.